Slip cap for bottles



March 2, 1943.

ca.v c. WILSON SLIP GAP FOR BOTTLES Filed July 19, 1939 lll ill-Illnll lNvi-:TQR Gara'mell C; Wilson Patented Mar. 2, 1943 SLIP CAP FOR BOTTLES fGardiner'C; IWilson,,.--Lancaster Township, Lancaster rCountyfPa., xassignor, by \mesne assign- .ments,.to yHiram iWalker & Sons, AInc., Peoria, ...Il1.,.a corporation of Michigan Application July -19, 1939, seralNo. 2855389 (CL. 21-5-f43) lfCla-im.

This invention isfora"bottle closure andrelates to ybottle closures fof the type "that may; be slipped onto 'the neck o'f a .bottle andv subsequentlyturnedl to .screwlthe captightly onto the .bottle where altightsealis to be effected.

iCombination.slipand. screw caps `of ithe type 'to whichthe presentl inventionpertains are provided for use on bar bottles and'bottlesfor chemicals .or .pharmaceutical preparations. 'Where 'l bottles areprovided with an ordinary vscrew cap "and g arelused either asbar; bottles or as. bottles jforgthe mixing oricompounding of chemicals or A,prescriptionsglthe user may; not,'nd it convenient Vto .immediately ,replace the .cap and Y screw it on withthe resultjthat. thehottle' is left open `for^jthefree.evaporation of itsfcontents or for -the contamination of its contents by foreignsublstanceskor insects. In;or'der .'to :avoid this, Vcaps "have heretofore 'been constructedffor use "with .especially designed .bottles which may Jbe retained '.onthe 'bott1e{1by"rnerely slipping :them

endwise .onto'thebottle '.When slipped on in :this ."manner; 'they' prevent the. free 'evaporation of the 'contents 'of'.thebottle'and the contaminartion Jof'the contents. "To4 tightly sealthe bott1e,'they may be" turned toscrew the captightly down into sealingirelation' withrthe lip ,of the lbottle.

,'Inthe copending"application "of Grant A. "Di'bert,SerialNo.:261488;iledtMarch 13, 1939, i there is disclosed'a'bottle andfs-lip lcap, and Athe present invention l,constitutes an 'improvement on the'cap thereindis'closed.

According to the present invention there is provided a combination slip and screw cap which requires less plastic material in its manufacture than caps heretofore constructed for the same purpose and which 4are of a nature such that they can be stripped from the forming mandrel or punch by a straight stripping operation without requiring that they be rotated to unscrew them from the plunger or punch and which may be easily applied to the bottle as a slip cap and centered thereon. By reason of the thinner walls in the skirt of the cap, less material is required for the manufacture of the caps and less time is required for curing them in the molding press. Because of the fact that the caps may be stripped from the forming mandrel without an unscrewing operation, the removal of the caps from the forming plunger or molds may be more quickly accomplished. These advantages result in a cap which may be more cheaply manufactured than caps heretofore intended for the purpose and which is otherwise as convenient to use. In the -cap shown in Figure-1 on a-'sl-ightlylarger Ascale and showing thel capclear ofthe-bottle; and

Figure 4 is a transverse horizontal section in theplane -of line IV-IV of Figure `3, the convtour or"A vthefneck of thebottle being indicated in chain lines.

-In the drawing, 2 Ydesignatestheupper Aportion-of a bottlehaving afange 3 thereon and above the ange -3is a'portion having lcapretainingmeans thereon, vsuch Vas v the threadf 4, the thread preferably 'being' na -thread of -only approximately -one turn. vAbove thefthreaded portion is an-extension5. This Vextension-is illustrated as terminatingin-a pouring lip, -the pouring flip comprising a part 6, the -interior of which ares outwardly whilewthe exterior thereof is tapered'inwardly, therebeing lan Vannular recess I intermediate't-hislip-and thegmain body vofthe neck. 'The-bottle-il-lustrated is'the same as Athat disclosed in the -aforesaidgapplication of Grant A.'`Dibert"and"forms -no-part of the present invention per se.

The cap, which is preferably formed of Bakelite or other molded plastic material, comprises an integral cap-shaped body having a top 8 and a deep skirt 9. Projecting from the inner face of the skirt 9 is a means for engaging the thread on the neck of the bottle, this means in the particular form illustrated comprising a thread I0, the thread also preferably extending only slightly more than a single turn around the interior of the skirt.

Located on the interior wall of the skirt between the thread I0 and the top 8 of the cap are neck-engaging ribs I I. 'There are a plurality of these ribs around the interior of the skirt. The ribs extend axially of the cap and the upper end portions I la thereof taper oi in both width and thickness. The ribs I I project from the surface of the interior wall of the skirt in a radial direction sulicient for these ribs to slidably engage or barely clear the outer portion of the lip 6 and the upper part of the neck 5 of the bottle. By reason of this arrangement, when the cap is merely slipped onto the neck of the bottle, as shown in Figure 2 so that the thread-engaging means I rests on lthe thread 4. the ribs Il will form guiding surfaces to hold the cap centered on the end of the neck of the bottle and restrain it from lateral or radial movement. They may even project far enough to have a slight frictional contact with the upper part of the neck of the bottle so as to hold the cap in place should the bottle be knocked over, although normally the dimensions of the part are such that the cap may be freely slipped on and olf with ease.

Seated against the top of the cap is a sealing or liner disk l2 of a compressible material. When the cap is screwed down tightly on the neck of the bottle as shown in Figure 1, the disk 2l makes contact with the top edge of the neck 6 serving to form a fluid-tight seal. When this disk is inserted into the cap, it is forced past the ribs Il and the inner ends of these ribs preferably terminate in spaced relation to the top of the cap so that the sealing disk is confined between the top of the cap and the tip portions lla of the ribs Il. The ribs thus serve to hold the sealing disk in position, and it is unnecessary to form any undercut or recess in the skirt of the cap adjacent the top for retaining the sealing disk.

By reference to the drawings and particularly Figure 3 thereof, it will be noted that the outermosty or lowermost ends of the ribs H terminate in spaced relation to the thread l0 providing in effect a zone I3 between the protuberances in the thread. This zone provides the clearance which is necessary to allow the cap vto be screwed completely down on the neck ofthe bottle to the position shown in Figure 1 without the ribs Il engaging the thread 4 on the neck of the bottle.

The bottle cap can be molded in the usual manner and it can be force-stripped from the forming mandrel or punch. The tapered shape of the upper end portions Ila of the ribs Il facilitates this stripping and renders the ribs less likely to bevbroken oif in the stripping operation. In the drawing the cap is illustrated as having molded ornamentation on the exterior thereof, but this ispurely arbitrary. Also, while the cap is especially designed for use with a bottle having an extension with a pouring lip thereon, the cap may be used on any suitable bottle having an extension for cooperation with a slip cap.

While the ribs for centering the cap on the neck need not necessarily be in the form illustrated, axially extending ribs are preferable not only because they can be stripped from the plunger more readily than other shapes, but because they will slide smoothly over the pouring lip and not present any obstruction which will catch under the pouring lip and interfere with the cap being lifted oif the bottle. The longitudinal ribs or centering projections not only serve to hold the cap against lateral or radial4 movement when the cap is used merely as a slip cap; i. e., in a non-sealing position, but when the cap is screwed down tightly into a sealing position, these ribs Will prevent the cap from being flexed and broken as it might be if there were an annular space between the skirt and the neck of the bottle from the thread to the interior of the top of the cap. This is of particular importance where the cap is used as an original seal where it might be broken in transit or in handling if it could be so flexed. Y

While I have shown and described one particu lar embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made in both the cap and the bottle within the contemplation of my invention and within the scope of the following claim.

I claim:

A combination slip and screw cap for 'bottles which have a threaded neck and an elongated extension above the threads on the neck comprising a cap-shaped body having atop and a deep skirt, the skirt having means on the interior thereof extending beyond the surface of the interior wall of the skirt and adapted to engage the threads on the neck of the bottle, axially extending ribs on the interior of the skirt spaced circumferentially thereabout between the said thread engaging means and the cap top and projecting from the interior wall of the skirt a height in a direction radially of the cap sufficient to slidably engage the said elongated extension of the neck of the bottle for which the cap vis designed to be used at opposite sides of the neck to center the cap thereon when the cap is. in either a slipped-on or screwed-on position on the bottle, the ribs being spaced from the thread engaging means in a direction axially of the cap so as to provide a continuously smooth zone on the interior of the cap skirt between the thread engaging means and the ribs.

GARDINER C. WILSON. 

